We did what we said we'd do in the 1997 interview
with World Cogeneration and much more.
Since the beginning, we have focused intently on
our vision of becoming a leading global generation company with a top three
position in selected core markets. We have achieved that vision by sticking
to our strategies, among which are to:
leverage our presence in existing markets
to create expansion opportunities
form alliances with other energy leaders to
increase our asset base
and develop future core markets that meet
NRG's investment criteria.
The initial focus for NRG is on increasing our
portfolio of energy investments in the United States, Europe and Australia
and then other areas. We have a significant presence in Bolivia with COBEE
and plan to use that as our base of expansion in South America.
We're the 7th largest IPP in the world with nearly
170 facilities in 15 countries. NRG has operating and ownership interests
in power generation facilities in North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific
and Europe that represent over 21,000 MW of installed capacity. NRG has
operational responsibility for nearly 17,000 MW and net ownership of or
leasehold interest in approximately 11,734 MW.
By 1999 year-end, NRG's aggressive acquisition
activity in 1998 and 1999 will have contributed over 11,000 MW of generating
capacity, a 165 percent increase in gross capacity since 1997.
Much of that activity has occurred in the United
States where we avoided "marquee" assets and bought at the right
price.
At the end of 1997, 70 percent of our net megawatts
were located in offshore markets and 30 percent in the United States. By
the end of 1999, the scale had tipped and more than 60 percent of our net
megawatts are in North America.
The acquisitions of the Dunkirk, Huntley, Astoria
Gas Turbines and Arthur Kill generating facilities in New York and the Somerset
facility in Massachusetts as well as pending acquisitions in Connecticut
and New York have catapulted NRG into the leading IPP position in the Northeast.
NRG was one of the first IPPs to enter the newly
deregulated California electric power market. With the 1998 and 1999 acquisitions
of the Encina, El Segundo, Long Beach and San Diego Turbine generating facilities,
in addition to its existing California assets, NRG has garnered a top four
position among California IPPs.
The earlier O'Brien and PacGen deals positioned
us for success.
The acquisition of the Cajun assets (1,708 MW)
opens the South Central U.S. market for NRG. We have recently exercised
our right to acquire Southern Energy's 50 percent ownership interest in
Louisiana Generating. This is part of the reorganization for Cajun Electric
Power Cooperative and the sale of 1,708-megawatt fossil generating assets.
NRG has successfully carved out a top three position
in three profitable businesses: thermal district heating and cooling, refuse-derived
fuel production and landfill gas generation.
We are among the top three thermal district heating
and cooling providers in the U.S. with operations in California, Minnesota,
North Dakota and Pennsylvania. We also own and operate a district heating
facility in the Czech Republic.
We expect to meet our 2000 earnings goal ahead
of schedule.
NRG expects to contribute 20 percent of NSPÕs earnings
a year ahead of schedule. And we expect to be self-funding by year end 2000.
We entered Europe in 1994 with partnerships and
acquisitions of MIBRAG, Schkopau in Germany and Energy Center Kladno in
the Czech Republic. We recently completed our 345 MW expansion of ECK and
are finishing our 396 MW greenfield project at Enfield, near London, as
we speak. We were named a joint venture partner in Estonia, and we opened
new development offices in Poland.
We are the largest IPP in Australia. We entered
Australia in 1994 when we acquired an interest in the 1,680 MW Gladstone
Power Station, a coal-fired plant in Queensland. We have full operational
responsibility for Gladstone. We also have ownership interests in Collinsville,
192 MW, and put that plant into commercial operation in August 1998. In
1997, we acquired an interest in Loy Yang A, a 2,000 MW brown coal-fired
thermal power station. At the time of the acquisition, it represented the
largest energy asset privatization, both in Australia and worldwide.